الحديث الموضوع
al-Ḥadīth al-Mawḍūʿ
A fabricated report, spurious in its text or its chain of reporters.
What it means
A ḥadīth mawḍūʿ is a saying falsely attributed to the Prophet. The word means “placed” or “invented”. Such reports arose for several reasons, among them party feeling, the wish to promote pious acts, and plain invention. Scholars identified them by examining the sanad, the chain, and the matn, the text. A chain with a known liar, or a text that contradicts the Quran or sound reason, was grounds for rejection.
The Prophet warned: “Whoever lies about me on purpose, let him take his seat in the Fire” (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). In answer, hadith scholars compiled collections of fabricated reports, such as the Mawḍūʿāt of Ibn al-Jawzi, so that Muslims could recognize and avoid them. It is forbidden to relate such a report as the Prophet’s word, except to show that it is false.
Often misunderstood as
Confused with a weak report; the mawḍūʿ is a fabrication and is rejected altogether.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 51, listed as AL ḤADĪTH AL MAWḌŪ'. The definition is restated here.